corral

1 of 2

noun

cor·​ral kə-ˈral 

-ˈrel

1

: a pen or enclosure for confining or capturing livestock

herded the cattle into the corral

2

: an enclosure made with wagons for defense of an encampment

corral

2 of 2

verb

corralled; corralling

transitive verb

1

: to enclose in a corral (see corral entry 1 sense 1)

corralled the horses

2

: to arrange (wagons) so as to form a corral (see corral entry 1 sense 2)

3

: collect, gather

corralling votes for the upcoming election

Synonyms

Noun

• cage
• coop
• pound

Verb

• house
• confine
• enclose
• surround
• pen
• encase
• cage

Examples of corral in a Sentence

Noun

the horses live in our corral, along with a cow

Verb

corralled everyone in the conference room for a speech by the CEO

corralled a scattering of stray pens and quickly stuffed them in the drawer to tidy the desk

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Nance learned pipe welding from his uncle, who built fencing for corrals. —Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 10 Sep. 2025

Then, there's Dumbell Ranch, which has a main house, a bunkhouse, a mobile home for employees, several historic barns, and corrals, and even a few working shops. —Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 26 Aug. 2025

Verb

One of today’s co-hosts, France, has been unable to pass its own budget, let alone corral a continent into boosting its defense spending. —Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 4 Sep. 2025

Then Moniak drove Palencia’s 1-1 slider into the right-field corner for the game-winner as Kyle Tucker tried to corral the baseball. —Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 31 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Spanish, from Vulgar Latin *currale enclosure for vehicles, from Latin currus cart, from currere to run — more at car

First Known Use

Noun

1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1847, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for corral

• canal
• chorale
• ghazal
• locale
• morale
• royale
• bal
• dal
• gal
• mal
• pal
• sal

Kids Definition

corral

1 of 2 noun

cor·​ral kə-ˈral 

1

: a pen for keeping or capturing livestock

2

: an enclosure made with wagons for defense of a camp

corral

2 of 2 verb

corralled; corralling

1

: to keep in or as if in a corral

2

: surround entry 1, capture

3

: to arrange wagons so as to form a corral